Recycled Cardboard Box Craft

December 15, 2017

A house shaped gift box is so simple to make using a recycled packing box, and looks great for so many occassions! Who wouldn't wan't to make a gift box that is also a really great looking decoration, and if you like forget about the gift and just use the box to make this fun house shaped box with quilled medallion. I made this as part of a quilled Hanukkah craft series, but I could easily see it working for a baby shower, a bat mitzvah, wedding decor or how about a house warming gift?

I happen to love house shaped everything, so I can't wait to make some more of these in the future, plus it so soooooo simple!

March 05, 2017

The Jewish holiday of Purim starts this coming Saturday night (Sunday night for those living in Jerusalem proper) so lets turn up the heat and get crafting! These cute pizza box top robot clowns are just one idea to get you inspired. For starters, take a look around the house and use what you have on hand — the very best way to really truly get creative without having to run to the store, and spend time (and money) unnecessarily!

And truly, these robots came about literally on account of the above advice. Last Tuesday I was working hard making decorations for a community Purim party, and my kids were treated to some takeout pizza since mommy was too busy to even think about preparing food, not to mention cleaning up the huge mess she had made, yikes. Upon arriving home, I was greated by two medium size pizza boxes whose tops were clean, and my huge pile of crafting mess, mainly little scraps of paper. So of course, I thought that some pizza box top robot clowns would be a perfect start to our Purim crafting. With only a few days left to truly get into the Purim spirit, my advice is, go large, go funny, and go recycled.....here's how:

March 22, 2016

Okay my friends, when it comes to creating a knock your socks off kind of gift box, this one really is a piece of cake! Pinata style party decorations using crepe paper are all the rage, and so this idea, namely an upcycled box covered pinata style in crepe paper strips to resemble a piece of cake, is right on target. And best of all, if your box is on the small side like mine, it really doesn't take a huge chunk of time, phew! So next time a nice little box comes your way, save and turn it into the funnest gift box or party favor box ever! I actually made this one to go with my daughter's piece of cake costume for Purim, and this box held treats to give as part of a mishloach manot exchange in her classroom. (On Purim we give gifts of food to friends and neighbors, and the kids get into it too.......)

October 20, 2015

I was the girl who once had a collection of California fruit crate ends (with gorgeous vintage labels) hanging on her kitchen wall in San Francisco (one of my first upcyclling projects that required tearing apart wooden crates on the street, oh my!) so I had to laugh when I found myself eyeing the cardboard vegetable crates that are often used by the store to deliver our order.

And then it hit me, the total graphics aren't generally all that noteworthy, but the vegetables can be pretty great looking, so I decided that I should start cutting them out to use for craft projects!

But before you get around to making a mobile or a wall hanging of some kind using these vegetable cut-outs, they sure do make great fodder for a little game of vegetable store, don't they? Recycling can be so much fun if you just open your eyes to the possibilities!

You'll Need:

cardboard vegetable crates

strong hands

sharp scissors

How To:

Simply open boxes and cut out vegetables, but do be aware that you will need sharp scissors and strong hands. This is not something kids can do with any precision. I was thinking that one could make little stands for the veggies from slices of tp rolls with slits cut into them, I'll let you know if I try that one, sure could be s cute way to assemble a little play store.

July 25, 2013

Here's a fun drawing craft that's fun and creative with very personal results — I'll call it monster in a box, though it could certainly be an animal or creature of any kind. We used a recycled box, drew the monster's head on the top portion and then used the bottom portion as the monster's stomach, onto which we glued drawings of food that the monster may have eaten. I never was able to convince my seven year old that his monster could use some arms and legs, so you might want to encourage your kids to do that step first!

From a box that held a very infrequent treat to a great drawing craft that requires only markers, white paper and a glue stick.....the very best kind of crafting to enourage creativity. Enjoy!

May 27, 2013

I'll admit, I made this shoebox carnival toss craft for my eight year old, but kids just a bit older can certainly make one themselves, with help from an adult in the last step — cutting out the holes.

It's apricot season which means that it's "go-go" season at school, meaning boys of all ages scramble around with huge collections of apricot pits which they use to play all kinds of games in the hope of adding more to their mounting collection. From what it sounds like, the playground at my son's school is tranformed into a mini apricot pit carnival come recess time, so I helped him out with this shoebox toss, and will hear how it went when he comes home. The idea of the shoebox toss isn't mine, just taking it one step in the cute direction (as opposed to just holes with numbers) is.

Note: I intentionally didn't make it too professional looking such that other kids wouldn't be green with envy not having a crafty mom like me at home.....I do think this version is do-able for just about anyone?

You'll Need:

1 shoe box

contact paper, I used wood grain

white paper and markers

glue or double stick tape

a good craft knife

How To:

Draw a series of sketches that are related to one another or not, on white paper. Where possible draw holes in different shapes and sizes. According to the size of the hole, assign a number which denotes the reward given if the player's pit lands on the hole, or goes in it. Cover your shoebox with contact paper, and affix your sketch to the top of the box and cut out the holes carefully.

Rules: From what I understand, for all the games played on the playground, there is one set distance from which the player tosses. Tossed pits that do not result in a reward go to the owner of the shoebox. Other games with pits are played similar to marbles, and there is also a simple can toss.

Gotta love basic games, they're the best! Of course you may have to buy your kids a basket full of apricots, so maybe get into the canning business! Some kids around here literally have thousands of these pits in their stash! Enjoy!

October 04, 2012

On our visit to the Hermitage Museum in Amsterdam we saw a really fun collection of diorama's that children in a museum art program created, and of course I just had to share them with you! Plus, how many travel photos can one see in a row? (Mind you I've got lots and lots more to share, so stay tuned!)

I remember making diorama in shoe boxes as a kid, but I love these larger scale ones so much more! What a great way to study an important painting or even capture an experience that one may have documented with a photo. The supplies are quite simple: a cardboard box, acrylic paints, card stock, some glue and of course the desire to create!

I love the classic Dutch checkered floor with the simple figures and intense color, great results!

And a detailed facade is a great little feature as well!

And of course if you choose to do this project with a group, well then you can create a really fabulous wall display when the works are completed! Of course just one or two would be great too! And come to think of it, this could be a great project for Chanukah, the next holiday after Simchat Torah which we'll be celebrating on Monday (and Tuesday outside of Israel). All the best!

July 03, 2012

My seven year old had a great time making these fun pizza box top robots, a great little craft project to have on hand. I did make a little sketch of an old fashioned robot for him to use as a guide in his work, and I think he did a great job! The dots were made using dot paints, those little bottles for kids with a sponge applicator on top, but you could also stamp the dots on using a wine cork and paint.

And just in case you were wondering, here's what the other side of the box tops look like. The bottom portion of the box usually gets dirty from the pizza, but the top is clean and ready to go!

For those of you who have been following my blog now for some time, you may remember my original pizza box top robot post, from nearly two years ago, in which we used regular goache paints. Enjoy some pizza and a great craft project too!

March 01, 2011

Been saving those cereal and cracker boxes? Now is the time to use them to make super sweet gift packages for Purim mishloach manot, or for any occasion— who wouldn't love to receive a gift packaged in one of these great works of art? And the kids will feel so proud of themselves, you they may even be able to make a ton of these. Then all that's left for you to do is glue the boxes closed, add a ribbon handle, and something wonderful inside, and voila!

You'll Need

recycled boxes from cereal, crackers etc

acrylic craft paint, or any good quality paint that can be used for printing (namely not runny)

paint markers or permanent markers

circle sponge stamp (mine have handles) for kid's crafts, or carve a potato

a hot glue gun

wide ribbon

How To:

Open boxes at seam carefully. Lie flat and get the kids to work decorating them by either printing with a circular sponge, or by painting simple pictures

Once paint has dried, give kids markers to add details to their paintings and faces to their circles

For rectangular food box, add handle before you glue it together!

Glue side seam of box together with hot glue, followed by the bottom.

For cereal box "bag" shape, fold flaps down into box and glue in place. (just thought of this, it hides the cereal box graphics a bit!)

Punch holes in top of cereal box for ribbon handles. Use a little hot glue to secure ribbon to box just above the hole, and under the knot on the outside so it will lie flat.

Fill with healthy treats or wonderful handmade presents (Don't anyone get nervous, this is the goal, not reality most of the time, well except for the healthy part, which one really can do—I'll be giving whole wheat pitas and salads for Purim this year...)

Have fun and send me photos of your kid's creations! Oh and by the way, if you have a chance do pick up any of the drawing books by Ed Emberly, most kids really love them. (I know I did, though for some mysterious reason, my kids have yet to realize how wonderful they are! ) Some of the faces on the circle packages were inspired by one of his books.

Oh and one more thing. Painting pictures is actually quite difficult for many kids (and me too), so for those who are perfectionist types and don't enjoy painting because their pictures look like blobs, the idea of adding details with paint markers (or permanent markers) afterwards may help them loosen up a bit and enjoy painting! Here's to helping our kids enjoy the creative process!

July 21, 2010

Last week as I was cleaning up after my daughter's birthday pizza party, I was about to throw away the pizza boxes since they seemed to be a bit too soiled to salvage, but then my better sense took a hold of me and I realized that the tops of two of the boxes were actually clean so......I ripped them off the rest of the box and suddenly I saw the distinct shape of a robot head! Who would of thunk?

So the next afternoon, my daughter and I sat down to paint some robots. It was so much fun, and I just love hers! While she of course loves mine......though she doesn't realize that the innocence of hers is so much cuter than my controlled illustration.

And by the way, for those of you who like the top version, a black sharpie marker is great for adding detail to your painting. And on the right, here's what I saw....pretty obviously a robot right? Either that or a martian! And yes,this particular robot was made with a hexagonal pizza box, but I'm sure you can think of something to do with the square ones as well!

So my friends, just take a good look at your garbage before you toss it, (or hopefully recycle it, if possible) as you may just have a great art project in the making! And don't worry if people start to call you the "garbage queen" it's a great honor, really!